OTTAWA — Canadian policymakers and industry need to move from hype to real-world applications of quantum technologies if the country is to benefit from innovations in the disruptive field, according to a new report for the federal government.

The Council of Canadian Academies (CCA), a non-profit that convenes scientific experts to inform decision-making, is releasing the assessment on Thursday. It calls for Ottawa to use procurement and regulation to help create demand for quantum products and services, and for it to encourage the private sector to use them, as well. In time, “quantum technologies can have a dramatic impact,” said Raymond Laflamme, the University of Waterloo physicist who chaired the assessment panel. 

Technologies using quantum mechanics include computers that could solve problems much faster than classical machines and run massive, complex simulations; more accurate sensors; and more secure communications networks. While many of those applications are still years in the future, Laflamme says policymakers and sectors need to start preparing now.

That includes running trials of the technology. The report calls for the federal government to use its buying power to support startups, noting that its current procurement processes favour existing contractors and that the system’s preference for off-the-shelf products doesn’t work for still-developing quantum applications. (Both are longstanding criticisms across the innovation economy.) “It’s not only for the money,” said Laflamme. “It’s also important for having a first user of these technologies.” 

Government departments should be buying cloud time and other products from quantum startups, Christian Weedbrook, CEO of Toronto-based Xanadu, told The Logic last year. “Having customers allows us to know where to head and continue to refine our products.” 

Ottawa’s $360-million National Quantum Strategy, launched in January, does include $35 million over seven years for Innovative Solutions Canada, an underutilized program that funds startups to build products that address departments’ needs. But firms in the sector have lobbied for further measures. Xanadu wants Ottawa to set up a quantum computing centre, where public- and private-sector users could test out new machines. Burnaby, B.C.-founded D-Wave Systems has called for a quantum sandbox, where government and industry clients could pose challenges and startups could offer applications. 

Policymakers can also encourage adoption via regulation. Take cybersecurity. Future quantum computers will be able to crack the encryption currently used to safeguard most internet communication and transactions. Intelligence agencies are concerned that hostile states may already be hoovering up currently unreadable data that they hope to decipher later. 

Trouble is, said Laflamme, “no company wants to upgrade their encryption just for the pleasure of knowing that they will be resilient to quantum computers many years from now.” Regulations requiring firms in sensitive sectors like financial services to meet security requirements could encourage them to buy from Canadian startups working on solutions.

Laflamme has played a key role in Canada’s quantum strategy. He worked on a December 2019 proposal for such a plan that universities made to the federal government, and now co-chairs Ottawa’s Quantum Advisory Council. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and the National Research Council of Canada commissioned the CCA assessment, although the panel produced it independently based on a research review and industry consultations. 

The report calls for Ottawa to get involved in international efforts to set standards for quantum technologies. For example, startups can build encryption products they can sell around the world once there’s a universal approach, while performance benchmarks could help potential customers figure out which machines are actually worth buying. 

Early applications of the technology include automakers looking for new battery materials, and pharmaceutical companies seeking to speed up drug discovery. But the report notes that those sectors are not huge economic drivers in Canada, and suggests policymakers target adoption incentives to larger ones like natural resources. 

It also urges Ottawa to map and secure the supply chain for quantum devices, noting some raw materials mostly come from geopolitically entangled countries like Russia and China. And the report calls for more talent programs below the graduate-school level, including executive education and on-the-job training.

The panel also emphasized the need for government and industry to consider quantum’s consequences and encourage responsible development and adoption of the technology. Laflamme cited malicious states or groups using quantum computers to crack encryption as an outcome to try and avoid. 

He believes now is the time for action. Quantum technologies are at an early stage, so if countries make responsible use part of their national strategies, “we might avoid what we’ve seen in AI,” he said.